


Shapeshifter AU

by StarlightG



Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-11-18 02:53:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18111779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightG/pseuds/StarlightG
Summary: A human-turned-pokemon appears in the pokemon world, first as a ditto-like-blob. Partner finds hero not too long after, and takes them to their town/village. there is general talk about a “special” rescue/explorer guild that’s basically on the other side of the continent.It SEEMS like a lot of different type of pokemon work there, but it’s actually a bunch of zoruas and dittos, being led a zoroark guild leader. Once learning this, partner wants to go to this guild, maybe going there and talking to them will bring answers about hero’s ability. Hero doesn’t know what they even are, they remember being the blob, but they can tell they’re not just a ditto, they’re….different. so they set off to go find this guild and hopefully some answers.





	1. First Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> a PMD AU from my pmd blog @lovepmd  
> basically just some drabbles based on the au, may never be completed

It had been a couple days since they set out on their journey towards the town with the guild. Lux wasn’t sure how they would get answers from there, but it was better to try than to sit around doing nothing. The couple dungeons they went through so far weren’t too bad, and Lux was glad they did some practice in the dungeons close to the village. They would’ve done worse in these other dungeons otherwise, still getting a handle on their abilities.

Night had fallen and the group set up camp in a small clearing. Aiden was busy getting a fire going, the spots on his head and back temporarily spouting flames as he lit up the fire pit in the center. Naida was nearby, carefully putting together their beds for the night and patting them down with her flippers.

Lux could only float nearby and watch them work, not knowing what to do. The shifter sighed and lightly tugged at the band tied around their arm, a gift from the siblings’ mothers before they all left. “Something to keep you safe,” they said.

They knew the two siblings were more than happy to join them, but they still couldn’t help but feel guilty. The village was so nice and peaceful, and who knew what dangers lurked out here? Lux remembered before they left about a warning from a traveling pokemon, about a group of thieves that might be in the area. They’ve been safe and careful so far, but did they pass by yet? Were they really going to be safe once they get through the mountain pass the elder mentioned?

“Lux!”

Lux flinched, their form changing slightly before turning solid again. The brionne was looking at them, lightly patting the bed underneath her with a flipper. “Come on, you need some sleep! Aiden said he’d take the first watch.”

The shifter glanced over to see the quilava sitting by the fire pit, who looked back at them with a smirk and a nod. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

Naida settled down on her bed, curling up into a ball and sighing. Lux shook their head. They knew they shouldn’t worry too much about things, but everything was still so new and jarring, they-

Something fell over Lux’s head and covered their whole body, suddenly jerking them to the ground harshly. They yelped at the impact, immediately struggling against whatever was on them.

“Lux!”

They heard the siblings call out to them, and they finally took in what was happening.

A group of pokemon were slowly appearing, surrounding the campsite. Lux looked up to see one of the pokemon above them, an ariados. Web. That’s what Lux was trapped in, the ariados formed a net with their webs and used it to capture them.

“If you kids don’t mind, we’re taking this one with us!”

Lux looked over and saw a flareon step into the campsite, his fur was matted and a large cloth wrapped around his middle. They glanced around to notice some of the other pokemon were fire types as well. They were completely surrounded and outnumbered.

“We’re not going to let you!” Naida yelled, her brother taking a stance next to her but facing the other way to glare at the rest of the group.

The flareon laughed. “And what’re you going to do about it, huh? Just be good children and do as you’re told.”

“Screw you!” Aiden shot back immediately.

The flareon snorted and took another step forward. “You should learn to respect-”

A large, sudden water jet shot out from the bushes nearby, hitting the flareon in his side and sending him flying just past one of the group members. Everyone in the campsite froze up in confusion.

Lux flinched as something large landed over them, large legs towered them on all sides, and another water jet sprung forth, hitting a couple more of the fire pokemon surrounding the area. Naida and Aiden were quick to jump into action; the brionne attacking the other pokemon and the quilava sending a burst of flames straight towards the ariados to send the pokemon running.

The group tried their best to fight back, and Lazarus-the elder!- stepped forth and moved faster than Lux had seen him move before. He headbutted pokemon that tried to attack his companions, and he bit into the leg of a houndour and threw them aside like they weighed nothing. Lux watched with wide eyes at the sight before them. They were told that the elder had his battles back in the day, but never did they think the old kind soft spoken pokemon was this brutal and quick in a fight.

Once their attackers finally all fled, Aiden began to carefully bite and burn parts of the web holding Lux. “Holdth on, i goth thish!” He mumbled out.

“Elder, why- I mean, thank you so much!” Naida bowed towards the araquanid. “That could’ve ended badly, they were so many and they already had Lux and-”

“Yes, child, I saw.” Lazarus interrupted, stepping over to help take off the remaining web off the shifter. 

Lux floated up in the air and shuddered, patting down their body. “Thank you, that…that was surprising.”

“That was awesome!” Aiden propped up on his back legs and grinned. “They came out of nowhere, but then you came out of nowhere and-”

“Children.”

Both of the siblings went quiet, and Naida stepped over to line up next to her companions.

“I was worried about you all, this is your first adventure on your own, after all.” Lazarus continued. “Not to mention we had heard about that group before you left, so I was even more worried. I decided to follow you until you got to the Red Mountain Pass. Beyond there, the guild should have reached the area and would be able to help you out in such a bind. And there aren’t as many open areas as this. Our village is small and not too close to other places, so there’s plenty of areas around here where such bad pokemon take to hide. I’m just glad I was here and I was able to help.”

“So are we, elder,” Lux bowed their head a little. “Thank you.”

“You should especially be careful, Lux.” The shifter lifted their head back up. “You’re more unique than you think, I believe. There’s a reason why they tried to steal you away. Take it as a warning for the future; this won’t be the last time this happens.”

Lux floated down a bit lower to the ground and gulped. Being kidnapped for any reason was something they never considered to happen, but it only made sense. They nodded and fidgeted nervously. “I understand,” they mumbled.

“We’ll be more careful too, elder!” Naida piped up.

“Yeah, we’ll protect Lux better next time!” Aiden agreed.

The brionne and the quilava got closer to the shifter, wrapping their front limbs around Lux protectively. Lux couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Thanks guys, I feel safer already.”

Lazarus laughed at the sight. “Good, that’s what I wanted to hear. I will accompany you all to the mountain pass tomorrow, but for tonight, all of you sleep. You will all need your energy for tomorrow and the trek onwards.”

“But-!” The siblings said in unison.

“No. It’s fine, I can keep watch all night on my own, don’t worry.” The elder turned and walked over by the camp fire, carefully lowering himself to the ground.

Aiden and Naida let go of Lux and all three of them went to their beds.The siblings were quick to go to sleep, but the shifter had a lot on their mind. Those thieves saw that they were unique and tried to steal them away. For profit, most likely. Lux had been lucky so far honestly, the village pokemon took them in with no real issues. How would other pokemon react to them? Would they actually get help? Would other pokemon shun them away because of how different Lux was? Would they also try to take them away from the siblings?

The shifter sighed and closed their eyes. They wouldn’t know what could happen and worrying about it wasn’t doing them any good. They could only sleep and hope that things went better from now on.


	2. The Question

By the time the group got to the Red Mountain Pass, they agreed that Lux should stay in a different form as often as possible. Since they stand out more staying in their “normal” form, but other forms look fine and are more solid, it was the best way to stay safe.

They said good-bye to the elder and went on their way, continuing their journey to the guild town. The rest of the way was much easier since they were more cautious now.

The group reached the edge of the town and stopped for a moment to take in the sight of it. It was bigger than their little village, for sure. Homes and shops lined along one side of the town, where many pokemon ran and walked around to do their daily jobs. Straight ahead was a sea, and there were a few pokemon they could barely make out just above the water. Along the other side of the town was obviously the guild, and another smaller building next to it. The guild was built tall to tower over the rest of the town, with a few different entrances into it, but each one was guarded. There was an entrance at ground level, one halfway up the building (from the looks of it, it’s more for members only), and one at the very top where some bird pokemon were flying in and out of. The top of the guild was also made to look similar to a zoroark’s head, making it clear who was in charge of it.

Lux (currently an ivysaur) looked around in awe, as did their companions. 

“This place is cool! I want to go everywhere!” Aiden exclaimed.

“Hey, remember we’re on a mission! This isn’t a vacation,” Naida reminded him, lightly nudging her brother.

The siblings continued to talk and debate over where to go first, and Lux looked back up at the guild. They noticed something sitting on the very top and squinted. Was that there just a second ago?

It was a flygon perched on the top, who seemed to be looking back in their direction. Lux had an uneasy feeling go through them, it was like the flygon was staring right at them.

Before Lux could say anything to get the siblings’ attention, the flygon flew up and headed down towards them. Aiden and Naida noticed and watched the pokemon descend and land gracefully in front of them.

“Cool…” Aiden whispered, before straightening up. “Uh, hello! We’re new here.”

“If you don’t mind, we request to see the guildmaster,” Naida explained. “There’s something we need to ask about.”

The flygon was quiet, looking over all three of them in turn. He was obviously studying them carefully, and Lux resisted the urge to change forms into something smaller. “You three are definitely not from around these parts, you must’ve come from far away,” he finally spoke. “And what business do you have with the guildmaster? Is it urgent? Is there one of those things where you’re from?”

“Things?” Naida asked, glancing at her brother and Lux, but they both shrugged.

“I guess not,” the flygon muttered, glancing back towards the guild before looking at them again. “If it’s not an emergency, you’ll have to wait a little bit. The remaining pokemon from another village came into town recently, so everyone is working to get them settled.”

“Remaining…pokemon?” Aiden mumbled, shrinking back slightly.

The flygon sighed and shook his head. “Never mind. Anyway, since this is your first visit to Shield Town, I’m going to need to inspect your bags. Is that alright?”

The three pokemon looked at each other in confusion at the request, but none of them were going to argue about it. They removed their bags and handed them over to the flygon, who began searching through them carefully.

After searching through all their belongings, the flygon returned their bags. “Alright, you guys can pass. Go over to that main entrance, I’ll let them know you’re cleared to go in.” Without another word, he flew up and back towards the guild, entering through the top.

Aiden bounced a couple times and laughed. “He was cool! He must work for the guild or something. Aww, I want to join already!”

His sister sighed and shook her head. “I know you want to, Aiden, but that’s not what we’re here for. Besides, some of these places have an age limit, don’t they? And you only just recently started seriously exploring!”

The quilava huffed. “Sure, but they could train me. At least you’re lucky, any place would be glad to take you in for your singing.”

“I agree,” Lux chimed in. “And any guild would be fine with taking in someone so eager to explore.”

The siblings looked back at the shifter and then shuffled a little in embarrassment. “C-come on, let’s go already,” Naida muttered, adjusting her bag before heading towards the guild entrance, her companions following.

-

They stepped into the guild, looking around at everything. The building was clean, and well put together and it was obviously more like a stronghold than anything else. They stayed in the front area with a few other pokemon, who were there to get help of some kind.

Lux settled down next to one of the walls and observed. There were a couple pokemon talking to a ditto nearby, another few pokemon settled down nearby and one of them was crying and being comforted, and there was a large board against the back wall with several papers attached to it. Squinting a little, Lux could see many of the papers were for mission pokemon. Is there one of those things near where you’re from? The remaining pokemon from another village came into town recently, the flygon’s words echoed in their mind. Was something going on around here? Was it not normal for this many pokemon to be running around and busy with something? Though it made sense, if things were peaceful like they were back at the village, then everything would be calmer here. So why weren’t things calmer?

The shifter broke out of their thoughts when they noticed Aiden and Naida walking over to the group of pokemon. The crying one was a sewaddle, who peered over at them and sniffled. The one holding and comforting them was a gardevoir, and Lux realized most of the group was grass pokemon.

“Hey there,” Aiden spoke softly, taking a small container from his bag and pushing it forward. “Want some? My mom made it, she’s good at mixing the right kind of berries.”

The sewaddle sniffed and glanced up at the gardevoir, who reached over and took the container, opening it and holding it for the sewaddle to eat. “Thank you,” the gardevoir said, smiling at Aiden.

Aiden nodded and stepped back, and Naida took a step forward. “Hello. Do you like it? That mix is one of our favorites.”

The sewaddle nodded in between gulps, eating the whole thing. Naida giggled and then cleared her throat. Then she began to sing, it was the lullaby she sang back at the village.

Lux looked around the room to notice most of the other pokemon had gone quiet and looked over at the brionne as she sang. Just like before, the shifter felt a wave of calm wash over them from her voice. Lux noticed the gardevoir held the sewaddle close and began to rock him, and the child slowly fell asleep.

Naida finished singing and the room was quiet for a few moments, and then business continued. Even if it was for a few moments, Lux hoped the song helped everyone relax a little.

“Thank you, the both of you, you’re very kind.” The gardevoir whispered to the siblings, cradling the sewaddle.

The siblings nodded and went back over to Lux, who nudged the both of them with their vines. “Good job you two, that was really sweet.”

“I agree.”

A voice piped up next to the trio, surprising them. They looked over to see a zoroark standing nearby, leaning against the wall.

Aiden’s eyes widened and he stumbled around with his words before his question became clear. “Are-I’m-you-are you the g-guildmaster?”

The zoroark laughed and gestured with a paw, walking away. “Come on, while we have a moment.”

-

The three of them followed the zoroark down a hallway and up some stairs. Lux glanced around at the different rooms they passed. One door had a label marked “storage” and another marked “spares”. A couple rooms had pokemon in them who were busy and talking, but the shifter didn’t get a chance to really listen to them or see what they were doing.

They entered a large room, mostly empty except for a desk near the back wall, and piles of papers sitting on it. The zoroark stopped in front of the desk and looked back at them, the trio lined up in front of her a few feet away. “Alright, so you wanted to see me? You’re lucky we’re not too busy right now, or else I would’ve asked you to stay at the hotel and wait until tomorrow, if it’s not an emergency.”

Lux could practically see Aiden vibrating with excitement next to them, but they were glad he was behaving himself.

Naida looked at Lux, a little unsure. The shifter nodded at her. This is what they came all this way for, this was the moment. The brionne took a deep breath and stepped forward. “We came here hoping you could provide some answers,” she started calmly. “Or if there’s just some way you could help us. Help Lux, actually.”

The zoroark looked at her curiously. “Oh? And what questions are you asking?”

Naida looked back at Lux, who took a step forward. Lux stared at the guildmaster for a moment, before closing their eyes and beginning to change forms. They heard the zoroark gasp, and when they opened their eyes, they were in their normal, weird, pink goopy form.

The guildmaster was staring at them, clearly surprised at the sight. Lux floated up into the air a little, and rubbed an arm nervously.

“What am I?”


	3. The New Plan

The guildmaster stared at Lux in silence for such a long time, the shifter just wanted to turn into the tiniest grain of sand and escape the situation. Then the zoroark stepped forward, slowly circling around Lux and looking over them carefully, and they heard her muttering to herself.

“A bit small, pink...looks too gooey though...but overall shape is similar...”

Lux rubbed their arm and glanced back at the siblings, who in turn looked at them and shrugged.

The guildmaster finally stopped and looked at Lux. “My apologies, I simply wasn’t expecting that. But this is curious. You look just like a mew.”

“A what? You’ve seen them before??” Naida piped up, excitement in her voice.

The zoroark chuckled and raised a paw. “Hold on now. Firstly, I don’t think I properly introduced myself. My name is Skyler and I’m in charge of this guild. Secondly, onto your friend here. No, I haven’t seen a mew for myself, but I’ve seen drawings of it. You look very similar to one, but none of the drawings I saw hinted at...” Skyler made a vague gesture towards Lux. “...the goop.” She concluded.

“What is a mew?” Aiden asked.

“A mew is one of the legendary pokemon. Like the rest of them, not many have actually seen mew in the flesh, they have a thing about staying hidden for one reason or another.” The guildmaster crossed her arms and shrugged. “But they appear enough times around us normal folk for us to know they’re real. Supposedly they help protect us in different ways. Sometimes they control things; like the land and sea, the sky, even space and time. They are unique and have special abilities. According to the stories, at least.”

Aiden and Naida gaped at Lux. Lux was simply at a loss for words.

“Lux can change into different pokemon! That’s their special ability! And they can use psychic moves! Not that well though, but still,” Naida took a moment to breathe. “And no one until now could say what pokemon they were! And you think they’re a legendary??”

Skyler laughed and shook her head, raising up both paws. “Whoa whoa now! Now I’m not saying anything for certain, this is just a theory based on my own knowledge that I’ve learned and heard of over the years. I don’t know what your friend here is, but they are indeed special. I wish I could provide more answers, even something a bit more solid, but that’s all I got. We do have some documents you can study yourselves to see what you find.”

Lux took a moment to glance at the siblings before looking back at the guildmaster. “We would appreciate it if we could look at them.”

“No problem, I’ll make sure you have clearance.” Skyler looked over all three of them. “Hmm...and all of you traveled here, right? I definitely haven’t seen you lot in town before.”

“Yes ma’am, we came from past the Red Mountain Pass.” Aiden answered with a grin. Naida rolled her eyes and Lux smiled at the sight. They both knew he mentioned it in that way to try to show off he was an explorer.

The zoroark looked over them again, quiet for a few moments and then she clapped her paws together. “Alright then, I have a proposal for you guys. Why don’t you stay here at the guild instead of the inn?”

“Huh?” Lux tilted their head.

“Why?” Naida lifted a flipper in a confusing gesture.

“Here...?” Aiden’s response was barely above a whisper and his eyes widened.

“For a few reasons,” Skyler pointed at Lux. “Let me guess, you probably don’t have a whole lot of experience yet with your shifting abilities, right?”

Lux rubbed their arm and lowered down a bit more to the floor. “I’ve had some practice, but no, I don’t have much experience overall.” They admitted.

The guildmaster nodded. “Thought so. Me and some of the others here wouldn’t mind teaching you a few tricks and give you some proper practice, and in a safe space away from prying eyes.”

The shifter thought over the idea and nodded. “I um...yes, that sounds nice. I appreciate the help.”

“And if you stay at the inn, then there’s time wasted you going there and coming here for practice. We have space, you guys can spend your nights here,” Skyler pointed out. “As for you two,” she continued, looking at the quilava and brionne. “You are more than welcome to help out around the guild, but I wouldn’t give you any real hard jobs or anything. The town is also open to you of course, I wouldn’t want you to just sit around bored all day while your friend gets some training.”

Aiden gasped and looked at Naida, who sighed. “We would be glad to help, miss. My brother wants to train to be a real explorer, actually.”

“Oh, really?” Skyler looked over Aiden, who was again vibrating in excitement. “You guys did make it this far on your own and look to be in good condition. I guess I wouldn’t mind doing some explorer training for you.”

Aiden made some kind of sound from his throat before straightening up. “Yes, ma’am! I would be honored!”

“And you know what,” the zoroark continued, looking at Naida. “You have a lovely singing voice. I bet the folks over at the inn wouldn’t mind some of that to help the residents relax.”

Naida gasped, one flipper raising to cover her mouth. Obviously the idea hadn’t occurred to her before this moment.

“So!” Skyler started again, getting the trio’s attention. “It’s settled then. You all have things to do now, well, later actually. Let’s get you settled into a room and you will rest for the evening. Tomorrow, training begins!”

-

A few minutes later, Lux was back in their ivysaur form and all three travelers were following a fletchinder down one of the hallways, towards the crew members rooms.

Aiden and Naida were busy talking excitedly about tomorrow, and about how their dreams were coming true. It was true, this is exactly what the both of them wanted. To be an explorer and to be a singer. Lux frowned. Now that they thought about it, they didn’t have a dream. Granted, they had no memories whatsoever before waking up near the village. But still...the shifter’s only goal right now was to find out what they are and maybe where they came from. Then.....then what? If they get the answers they seek, what happens after? Would they leave to go back to wherever they came from? Would they be able to? Would they want to?

Lux’s thoughts were halted when their head bumped into the back of Aiden. “Hey, you ok?” The quilava looked back at them.

“Yeah, sorry,” The shifter mumbled. They didn’t want to worry the siblings with such thoughts, especially right now.

“Raya, you’re going to bed already?”

Lux looked over to see why they stopped. The fletchinder escorting them paused to talk to a zorua. The shifter stared at her, the colors on her fur were different from other zorua. The main color was more brown than grey, and the parts that were normally red were actually more of a teal. But more than that, she looked...sad.

The zorua was standing next to the door of one of the rooms. “No more notices came in. There’s still a couple teams out with jobs, but they can handle it without me.” Her voice was low, and void of emotion. And yet Lux could feel from a distance just how sad she was.

The fletchinder huffed, obviously not satisfied with her answer but he didn’t want to argue either. “Ok, I still got some things to finish up.”

“That’s fine, Dusk.” ‘Raya’ mumbled and went into her room and closed the door.

Dusk sighed and continued flying down the hallway, the trio following him. Aiden and Naida continued talking as well, but with lowered voices. As Lux passed by the room, they looked at the door. Something about that zorua bothered them, and they couldn’t figure out why.

The fletchinder flew into a room and landed next to the door, gesturing with a wing. “Here you are, one room with three beds.”

The siblings went into the room, both claiming a bed and placing their bags nearby, checking through their stuff. Lux went to the remaining bed, using a vine to remove their bag and place it down.

“Training will begin early tomorrow morning, so you better get some sleep,” Dusk pointed a wing towards the quilava before folding it against his body. “And the inn officially opens around the same time, but you can go there whenever you’d like during the day.”

“Why was I singled out, Lux has training too.” Aiden muttered.

“Because he knows looking at you that you like to sleep in.” Naida teased.

The fletchinder was about to fly out when Lux spoke up. “Dusk, was it? Can I ask you something?”

Dusk flapped his wings for a moment. “Sure, what is it?”

“That zorua we passed by, who is she?”

The guild member sighed and hesitated on his answer. “That’s Raya, she’s the guildmaster’s daughter. She uh...used to be an explorer, but she stopped a little while ago to help with the job board.”

“Why?” Lux settled down on their bed.

Dusk shook his head. “Sorry, but that is going to stay a secret. And don’t try to get it out of Raya either, she probably won’t even be open to talking to you guys for a while. She’s been through some things and needs her space.”

Lux frowned and lowered their head onto the bed. “...Ok, I understand.”


	4. The New Arrivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is a prequel! before the two partners are even born, they were found by residents of a small village

Tia walked along the path leading to the lake, the swablu looking to just relax by the water. Everything was going well in the village, and she couldn’t be happier with her girlfriend. Even thinking about the fact they were together officially now made her so happy.

She giggled to herself and breathed in, taking in the morning air. Yeah, things were going well and peaceful and-

Tia stopped in her tracks, spotting something in the grass nearby. She walked over and gasped at the sight of two eggs just sitting there. The swablu quickly looked around the area, but there were no other pokemon around. Not even any real signs that someone else was there. The two eggs were simply sitting here, out in the open, all alone.

“Not anymore,” she muttered to herself, stepping over and very carefully grabbing the eggs in her wings, placing one of them in her bag and holding the other.

.

Parisa was busy as usual in her fields, collecting some ripe berries from the bushes. The flaaffy was pleased with how well her fields were doing, her hard work showing promise. She adjusted the basket in her arms, it was getting heavy. Content with what she had so far, she began walking out of the fields and towards her home.

“PARISA!”

The flaaffy jumped, almost dropping her basket. She stepped completely out of the fields and looked around. Her girlfriend was running towards her and-

“Tia? What’s wrong? Are those eggs??” Parisa’s eyes widened and she dropped her basket, scattering most of the berries onto the ground.

The swablu stopped by her, holding up the egg in her wings. “I just found them! I was heading towards the lake and they were just sitting there! No one was around, what do we do?”

Many questions ran through the flaaffy’s mind, but she shook her head to clear them away, for now. “Get them inside and comfortable, I’ll go grab the elder.”

Tia nodded and headed inside, and Parisa glanced back at the mess she made dropping her basket. But it wasn’t important right now, so she walked away to go grab the araquanid.

.

Lazarus was busy carefully examining the eggs. He placed one leg ever so lightly on the shells, slowly turning them over in order to examine them fully. Tia and Parisa stood nearby, anxious about what he would say. The swablu did her best to put together a small bed for the eggs to lay in, and surrounded them in a layer of fluff that shed from her own wings.

The elder finally stopped and stepped back, looking over at them. “Well, they seem ok. No damage whatsoever from what I can tell.”

Tia and Parisa both sighed in relief.

“Now, tell me what happened.”

Tia nodded and took a breathe before speaking. “I was heading towards the lake. I wasn’t even halfway there when I spotted them.”

“Were they on the path or on the grass?” Lazarus asked.

“On the grass,” Tia confirmed. “I didn’t see any other pokemon around. It didn’t even look like anyone had been there. These eggs were just…there. And I couldn’t just leave them there.”

Lazarus nodded. “You did well to bring them back. And it is odd, they were not far from the village at all, anyone could’ve come across them today. And we haven’t had any visitors recently, we would know if the eggs somehow came from them.”

“That’s true,” Parisa muttered. “The last visitors we had were a week ago, and they would’ve mentioned if they were expecting eggs soon. They probably would’ve stayed a bit longer too.”

The three were quiet for a few moments, all lost in their own thoughts. But it was clear no one had any idea where these eggs might’ve come from.

“Elder, what do we do now?” Tia asked, looking over at the araquanid.

“We take care of the eggs, of course.” Lazarus looked over at them. “And I believe you two are best suited for the job.”

The swablu and flaaffy were quiet, staring at him in shock.

“U-us, sir?” Parisa finally spoke, pointing one paw towards herself.

“I’m no egg expert, I only know pokemon themselves. And I certainly can’t keep them warm on my own. You already made this nice bed for them, which will benefit them the most. I will help by checking in every now and then, but I think they’re already settled nicely here,” Lazarus pointed out.

Tia couldn’t find any reason to argue against him. He made too many good points, but…

She shook her head and sighed, looking over at her girlfriend. Parisa looked back at her, and they both shared the same uncertain look. But they both knew they had little choice in the matter.

“We’ll do our best for them, Lazarus.” Tia said, looking back over at him. “And I know everyone else will help us too if we need it.”

The elder nodded and headed out. Parisa stepped over to the bed, looking over the eggs.

“Oh, Lazarus! Any idea when they’ll hatch?” Tia called over before he completely stepped out.

Lazarus stopped and looked over, lifting one leg in a shrug. “Like I said, I’m no egg expert. Keep them warm and safe, and keep an eye on them. They could hatch soon or not for some time.”

Tia sighed as he left and closed the door behind him. She stepped over to stand by Parisa.

The flaaffy reached over and carefully readjusted the eggs, so they were huddled together.

“So…” the swablu mumbled, looking over at her. “Are we going to be parents?”

Parisa looked at her and her eyes widened as the realization slowly dawned on her. “Oh my Arceus, we’re going to be parents,” she muttered under her breath.

Tia laughed and hugged her girlfriend, wrapping her wings as tightly as she could around her. “We’ll be parents!”

Parisa couldn’t help but laugh along with her, hugging her back. “This is- I’m- I don’t even- we didn’t plan on this!”

“No we didn’t!” Tia lowered her wings, using one to rub her face as a couple tears fell. “But we’re part of this now. And I don’t really see a reason to not be excited! I mean, sure, we don’t know much about what to do, but we’ll do our best. And we have the others, we’re not alone in this.”

“You’re right,” the flaaffy rubbed a paw on her face, a couple tears appearing on her as well. “I hope they don’t hatch too soon, we need some time to prepare.”

“But I can’t wait to see them! Oh, I wonder what they are. Are they even the same pokemon? I can’t tell looking at them now,” the swablu hopped up on the edge of the bed, looking over the eggs.

“Well, we’ll know when they hatch.” Parisa suddenly remembered something. “My berries! Uh, stay here and look after them, I need to go clean up. And I’ll tell the others too!” She rushed to the door and went outside.

Tia sighed and carefully nestled herself next to the eggs, wrapping her wings around them. “We’ll take good care of you,” she whispered to them.


End file.
